SxSW - Day 2

One of the most annoying that can happen after carefully planning out your daily band-seeing strategy at SxSW is a time change. Especially if you're not in the vicinity of a venue AFTER you've heard an act you really want to see is going on almost an hour early, and you're still headed downtown. Just such a thing happened yesterday when organizers of Full Metal Texas (an otherwise spectacular show, btw) when buzz-band Kvelertak were onstage a full hour earlier than expected.

What does one do in Austin when your plans go awry? Eat BBQ, of course. So Diane and I chose to head to our traditional meal at Iron Works in lieu of seeing Hull, knowing they'd be at the Ale House for The End's evening showcase. And since it's SxSW, we ran into both Dax Riggs and a dude from Valient Thorr on our way to eat, then sat next to members of Duff McCagan's Loaded while we ate. (Incidentally, tonight Loaded open for Filter at the Austin Music Hall, lolz!)

But once we got back into the action, it was incredible, because we saw YOB. The rarely-touring doom/stoner/awesome band put on an incredible 40-minute long, four-song set. So intense for their first trip to Austin in over five years.

YOB

From there, we took a detour to South Austin's Obsolete Industries to see the unofficial Amphetamine Reptile showcase featuring the reunion of Hammerhead. In theory, an excellent idea. But the actual setup was a bit off-putting. The band performed in the studio's print shop, while the audience was relegated to the space's gallery - essentially forcing the audience to watch the band through a glass wall and hear them through a single amp placed there for convenience. Glad I was there, but I was even more happy to head back to the fray of Red River.

Hammerhead behind glass

Once there, the first place to hit was the Ale House for Hull, who put on an intense set that flourished with an extended version of "Viking Funeral." Since the goth venue Prague was only a few blocks away, we headed over to finally see Kvelertak. Were they worth the hype? Sure. Taking their cues from Death 'n Roll-era Entombed and adding their own guitar-hook laden garage-y influences, the Norwegians put on a high-energy set that got a little dangerous at points. I definitely got off easy by only getting conked on the head with the mic.

Kvelertak

After that, I went over to catch Agalloch and YOB only to find out that Suplecs were headlining in the next room, and that Weedeater's Dixie Dave would soon be joining them onstage—which he did—but only to do some bizarre scat-growl singing. Finally, YOB blew the night away as the best of the night.

More music to see now. More pics here.